Dancing
by MissAnomaly
Summary: She spins and she sways To whatever song plays Without a care in the world Written for LaPaige's 101 Prompts. Read & Review please..


_Written for LaPaige's 101 Prompts Challenge. _

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

_A/N : Inspired by Steven Curtis Chapman's Cinderella and is specially dedicated to __**PurpleAngel87**__ for prompting for this one.. It's probably not what you expected but let me know what you think anyhow? _

_Anyhow.. Constructive criticism is welcome and silent readers are creepy.. So... Don't be creepy.! Please? Haha.. Enjoy.._

Dancing.

The little girl with the chestnut brown hair spun and swayed in the centre of the living room, as her father sat on the couch, pen and paper lay messily before him as he strummed the guitar frustratedly trying to get the melody right.

Oblivious and care-free, the brunette firecracker pulled at her father's sleeves saying, "Dad, I need you, there's a ball at the castle, and I've been invited, and I need to practice my dancing," he frowned, she was too old to be playing make believe and he had way too much work to do, "Oh, please, Daddy, please?" she pleaded with her big brown puppy eyes that reminded him so much of her mother and his heart melted and he lets himself be dragged to the middle of the living room to sway his little girl to the imaginary music.

_Nathaniel James remembers the first time he ever saw Caitlyn Gellar.__ It was a short time after he had first seen Mitchie. In fact, it had been Mitchie that he had been seeking out that day, in the lunchroom, the girl that Shane would just not shut up about but it was hard not to notice the brunette firecracker beside her, cherry-glossed lips gleaming and bubblegum cracking._

_She was, in a word, vibrant._

_So when he was hanging around backstage after Final Jam, maybe, possibly hoping to catch sight of her again, he saw Shane take Mitchie around a corner. Curiosity got the better of him and he hurried around the corner, hoping to catch them in the act and finally get Shane to admit he was crazy about the girl, when WHAM! A leopard-printed blur rammed straight into him, and ricocheted right back off again, colliding with the floor with a harsh smack. _

_He could tell from her first sentence that Caitlyn had an impressive amount of self-confidence, having absolutely no qualms about chatting to him like old friends who had known each other for years. Her exuberance was a stark contrast to his usual reserved nature, but Nathaniel James found himself getting sucked in and expressing myself in a way he never even attempted with Shane or Jason. _

_As she skipped away when the night was over, his stomach churned in panic. He'd seen that spark in her eyes, and couldn't even fathom the thought of letting it go. So he called after her and his heart literally skipped several beats as she scribbled her number on his hand with a small smile on her face._

"He's a nice guy, daddy, you'll like him, I promise," she announced through the wooden door that opened into the secret alcove that was his daughter's and he secretly suspected that the walls were painted black and can hardly be seen behind the massive posters of bands she loved with all the discs she has packed up on the groaning from the weight shelf that he was not allowed into since she had turned 12. He's not sure if he wants to believe her, the boy was in a rock band after all, but he does and she stepped out of her room in a purple strapless dress wearing a ton of bracelets, face expectant.

"And..?" she asked, wanting to know if he approved of the dress.

"I guess I'm supposed to say the dress is too revealing, you've too much make up on and too much jewelry and boys are only after one thing," he stated and her face fell to a frown slightly, "But I won't, because you look beautiful," he continued placing his hands on her cheek as she beamed.

"Dad, the prom is just one week away, I think I need to practice my dancing,"

Faking a groan, she pleaded, "Oh, please, daddy, please,"

So dance they did and as he spun and twirled his little girl in his arms, he reveled in the moment, wondering when his 'little girl' would no longer be so little anymore, hoping that she would stop growing for one moment as he watched her morph into a woman that reminded him so much of her mother.

"_Just follow my lead, okay," Caitlyn Gellar whispered into Nate's ear just as the spotlight hit them. _

_His stomach churned and his nerves were shot. Dancing on stage during concert in front of millions of screaming fans with his guitar and choreography was fine, but waltzing for junior prom? Not so much, he thought._

_She stepped back, then forward. He followed and began to stumble a little, but once he started moving, he caught on to the fluidity and the rhythm and slowly got the hang of it. Without warning, he surprised her with a twirl and twirled she did. He began leading instead and she couldn't help but smile as he lifted her. Next they knew, Nate had gotten all the steps down and they began to spin around, like two little kids playing ring around the rosy, oblivious to the fact that they were being watched by dozens if not hundreds._

_They crowd had stopped watching and started dancing themselves as Nate and Caitlyn continued to twirl around, having the time of their lives. The music slowed and so did the they, foreheads against each other, breathe ragged from the whirling and swirling._

_And as they stood there, amidst the crowd that had built on the dance floor, faces in such close proximity to one another, his entire body felt disconnected to his brain, as if some vital fuse had blown and he was operating completely on desire and instinct and Nate couldn't stop himself as he dipped his mouth towards hers. _

_Caitlyn's head inched higher and higher up as well and before either could think it over, they both pulled into the same idea, their lips met keenly, letting free the bottled up emotions and desires that were so keen to burst forth that they couldn't contain anymore._

She arrived home one day with a ring on her hand, glowing and she really did glow as she was telling all they had planned.

He merely smiled as his baby girl spoke animatedly on what she wanted for the wedding, the big old church, the roses, the reds and golds at the reception, the lavish white wedding dress. But the smile doesn't last for long as slowly the tears formed and threatened to fall.

She sees the tears, and she pauses with a cheeky smile on her face, "Daddy, the wedding's still six months away, but I need to practice my dancing, oh, please, Daddy, please?" she pleaded and he reins himself in and obliged, letting his daughter pull him to his feet and to the middle of the room.

_The__ organ march begins, and his head whips up along with other heads just in time to see her enter. She is a vision in white. His breath hitched and his heart was rebounding almost painfully against his chest._

_The beatific glow on her face__ (and really she does glow) put a smile on his and everyone else's face. She walked down to aisle and it is clearer than ever that it is her day, looking truly ethereal._

_She walks up and stood at the altar, beautiful and glowing. _

_The priest does his thing__ and before long, the vows were exchanged as were the rings. And then the kiss happened and the deed is done. _

_It's official and __she was officially Caitlyn James. Just the sound of that was more than enough. His heart thumps ecstatically in and eyes shining with unshed tears of happiness._

It was time for the wedding reception and everyone waited patiently for the newly married couple to take the floor for their first dance as man and wife. The musician called them out and they take the floor.

Nate watched as she took the floor for the first time as Caitlyn MacNamara. He watched as she officially became someone else's, to have and to hold, for better for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death parted them. His heart clenched. Loving somebody was definitely not all that easy as they made it out to be.

She and her new husband finish dancing and she drags him to the middle of the dance floor despite his protests, like always, and she rests her head in the crook of his neck as they danced. Closing his eyes, Nathaniel James closed his eyes, reveling in the moment as he knew that those last few moments he spends dancing with the girl in his arms was going to fill his dreams forever. He reveled in the moment because he knows that it'll be over all too soon and he'll be left hanging on to bare traces of them when the feeling of emptiness crept in as soon as the dance was over. The feeling that you're all alone in a world surrounded of pairs, yet you're the one who happens to be left by yourself.

"You're distracted," she said lifting her head from his shoulder, the statement sounding like a question more than anything as she looked up at him with the glow on her face putting a smile on his as he gazed into the distance, as if reliving a moment.

"_Cait," Nate whispers, letting his lips tenderly touch hers._

"_Nate," she mimics, a soft smile playing at the corner of her lips, "I feel like dancing," she decided abruptly, "Please?" she pleaded, her voice feeble, breaking his heart._

_And so they do. Tears almost formed in his eyes as she rests her head on the crook of his neck, fitting perfectly as they sway to the imaginary music with him almost supporting her whole weight as she fought to try to lift herself upright. She mumbled to him drowsily, "Let's not stop, please," she whispered, "Let's never stop dancing,"_

_And he kissed the top of her head as he felt her slipping away in his arm._

"I'm thinking your mom," he said simply when he's brought back to reality, "She would've loved to be here, at your wedding, dancing,"

"I'm sure she would've, daddy," she replied before resting her head back on the crook of his shoulder as they continued to sway effortlessly to the music.

_So I will dance with Cinderella_

_While she is here in my arms_

_'Cause I know something the prince never knew_

_Oh, I will dance with Cinderella_

_I don't want to miss even one song_

_'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight_

_And she'll be gone _


End file.
